The State We're In, 4 August 2012. A Rwandan mother flees the 1994 genocide on foot, with her infant son in tow. An Australian girl riding a panicked horse heading for the highway sings a song to it and saves her life. A Polish neo-Nazi skinhead in Poland discovers his Jewish roots and turns to a rabbi for guidance and friendship.
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A long way from paradise - listen in new player
While waiting at the airport in Kigali, Leah Chishugi got caught up in the 1994 assassination that triggered Rwandan genocide. Leah tells host Jonathan Groubert about all the decisions she made to escape the country... on foot with her infant son.
Leah eventually settled in London, presuming her partner and family had been killed. But a phone call prompts her to fly to Africa and find out what happened to her family and to meet the man who killed them.
More: Rape in a Lawless Land - Leah Chishugi recorded the video testimonies of over 400 women and girls raped by militias in eastern Congo, 2008.
Essay: horse whispering - listen in new player
Sasha Pavey was 10 years old and bored on a family holiday in Australia.
But she perked up when they drove past a horseriding school.
What started off as a gentle country trot became one of the most terrifying, and revealing, moments of her life.
The rabbi and the skinhead - listen in new player
Rabbi Michael Schudrich first arrived in Poland in 1973, where the Holocaust and communism had virtually wiped Jewish culture out.
Pawel was a neo-Nazi skinhead, who used to beat up Jews and anyone else he and his gang didn’t think were "pure" Polish.
They reveal to Jonathan how an incredible discovery made their paths cross.






















The story is truly inspiring and motivational. Proud of this woman.
This story was gripping. I was so inspired by this amazing woman. What incredible courage. Her story gives hope that one can overcome anything.
Thanks, Sherry. We feel the same way about her story.
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